Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar

Location and site

Wismar and Stralsund are both located in the northeast of Germany, directly on the Baltic Sea. Wismar is situated about 120 km west of Stralsund.

Registration criteria

(C ii, iv)

Historical reference

The medieval towns of Wismar and Stralsund, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, were major trading centres of the Hanseatic League in the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries they became Swedish administrative and defensive centres for the German territories. They contributed to the development of the characteristic building types and techniques of Brick Gothic in the Baltic region, as exemplified in several important brick cathedrals, the Town Hall of Stralsund, and the series of houses for residential, commercial and crafts use, representing its evolution over several centuries.